1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to containers and vials. Particularly, the present invention relates to test strip vials. More particularly, the present invention relates to test strip dispensers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over the years, various kits have been devised that include items known as disposables and/or consumables. The disposables and/or consumables are generally one component of a multi-component kit. These kits are typically used for qualitative testing or quantitative testing or both. For example, kits exist to test for the presence of particular chemical species in the air, smoke stacks, water, and the like. Other kits have been developed for testing the presence of biological species. Still other kits have been developed particularly for use in patient treatment. One example of such a medical test kit is a kit to test the glucose level in blood, particularly for use by diabetics. Some diabetics require testing as often as ten times a day or more.
In all kits that include disposables and/or consumables, the disposable and/or consumable is generally stored in a container. The most commonly used and simple container is a vial. Vials have been used to store various disposable and/or consumables such as adhesives, pH tablets, chlorine tablets, vitamins, test strips, swabs, tongue depressors, etc. More sophisticated kits may include a container combined with a testing instrument. More recently, for example, glucose test meters have incorporated a reservoir to contain a plurality of test strips. Some even use an electro-mechanical device for ejecting a strip while electrically connecting it to the meter for use in making a blood glucose measurement.
There are, however, several disadvantages of the prior art. The use of simply vials creates a risk of spilling the entire contents of the vial when one is extracting a single disposable and/or consumable. In the case where the disposable/consumable is a test strip, the spilled test strips could get contaminated depending on where they were spilled and, if contaminated, would have to be discarded. The more sophisticated, electro-mechanical devices add cost to the kit due to the addition of more complicated and more expensive parts used to eject and electrically connect a test strip for use.
Therefore, what is needed is a strip dispenser that is simple in design and inexpensive to manufacture. What is further needed is a strip dispenser that is a manual device and does not rely on any electro-mechanical components to dispense/eject a test strip or to electrically connect the strip to the meter. What is still further needed is a strip dispenser that reproducibly presents a new test strip to the user without exposing the remaining, stored test strips.